Star Crossed
by xXToxicValentineXx
Summary: Scarlett wakes up in her new life, as the fire spirit. Her life before this she refuses to think or talk about. When she meats the spirit of ice, Jack Frost, things turn upside down. She makes new friends, faces dangers far beyond her wildest fears, and struggles with the love triangle she now finds herself in.
1. Burned

**Authors note: This is the first chapter, and the reason this story is rated M. This will be the only situation even close to this in this story, unless she has flashbacks later on. I have yet to decide on that. So please, no reveiws saying how this is discusting and how you don't want to read it. You have been warned. Also, I may spell words wrong frequently. The program I use to type does no have spell check. I do re-read chapters before I post them, but I don't always catch my mistakes. For instance, the word "the" may be spelled "thw" on accident. I apologize ahead of time, thank you. Please reveiw and tell me if you guys want more! The guardians will be coming later on in the next chapter.**

Chapter 1/Prologue

I'm sitting in my bedroom, well, basement, of my home. I wouldn't call it a home though, just the place I half live. I stayed in that basement, I never even got to see the night of day. I'm laying in the corner, trying to hide in the shadows. The basement was black, no light to be seen. That's one thing I was never afraid of, the dark. In my youth I was completely engulfed in the dark, I lived in it. How can you fear something you don't want to leave?

I hear the door at the stop of the old wooden stairs swing open. I held my breath, terrified of what would happen next. I hear each board creek with every step the man took. A tear slid down my cheek now, I couldn't breathe. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't. I had learned years before screaming was pointless, no one would hear me. The man was now down the stairs, walking across the cold pavement closer to where I lay. Each step echoed in my head like a chime of defeat.  
"Know what day it is?" I didn't answer, but he knew I knew. I could sense the evil grin that spread across his face. "It's your 18th birthday, Scarlett. You know what that means? That means you get a special present today."  
I felt like a little child trying to hide from the Boogeyman. No, no. This man was much worse. He was pure evil, there was no remorse in his soul. He didn't want me dead. No, he wanted me to suffer. To be torchered with the reality that no one would ever love me, that he would never allow that to happen.  
"My wife died 18 years ago on this very day because of the little vermin you are. You're evil, a pest, and you need to be dealt with. I've had enough of you." He grabbed my arm, lifted me up, then threw me back down. He lifted me up once more, holding me by my shoulders. He leaned in, I could feel his hot breath on my ear. He stunk of the whiskey he had been drinking. "Now take your dress off."  
I obeyed. I used to cry and fuss when he demanded these things from me, but I learned it's easier to just go along with whatever he says.  
"Hurry up, you don't want me to do it myself do you?!" I shake my head quickly, even knowing he couldn't see me. It was off of me, just like that. Laying on the ground in a crumbled up dirty mess just like me. He grabbed my upper arms and shoved me against the wall.  
"You see, if I had my wife I wouldn't have to you. This is all your fault, you understand that, don't you?"  
After I nodded, he began with my punishment. I felt nothing. I hadn't felt anything in years. I was a body of emptiness. I would give anything to feel something. Something other than nothing.  
It went on for hours. Him telling me how it was my fault, that I should have died instead of her. Once he was finished with my body, he threw me back onto the ground. I didn't try to get up, I didn't try to move. I heard him walk to the other wall not that far away. He picked something up, and then there was a splashing around. A foreign smell filled my nose. It was stinging scent. I tried looking up, confused. I could see nothing. He was splashing a liquid all over the floor.  
He threw the empty container in my direction, ironically hitting me in the face. I heard him climb half way up the stairs before he stopped. He paused, then spoke.  
"Go back to hell where you belong, you demon."  
He lit a match, then threw it to the floor.  
Flames surrounded me. Pain, sweet pain. It hurt, I began to scream and cry. The worst part of it, is the tears and screaming weren't completely from the pain.  
They were from happiness. Happiness that soon I would finally be free.


	2. New Life, New Meaning

Chapter 2- New life, new meaning

Pain in my head. That's the first thing I noticed when I woke up. I groaned. It wasn't the type of pain I had gotten used to, it was pain throbbing from the inside out.

All I could see was light pink. I noticed I was laying on a strange surface, a texture I'd never experienced before. After a second of confusion I realized that I was seeing pink because my eyes were closed.

I slowly fluttered them open. The first thing I noticed was green leaves above me, light escaping through the small gaps. I was laying on my back. I blinked. I blinked again. Where am I?

I slowly sat up, my headache already beginning to fade. "Uhhhmmph.." I touched my hand to my face and paused. Something wasn't right.

I pulled my hand away to examine it. Insead of where soft skin should be, there were leather gloves that went up past my elbows, black leather boots that came up to my knees to match.

I was also wearing a black latex suit. It started at my ankles, and came all the way up to my chest like a corset, with no straps over my shoulder. There was a diamond shaped cut out of the center of the suit, exposing my stomach and small belly button.

Where did these clothes come from? Was this another cruel form of punishment the man that's called my father had put together for me?

Running water, I could hear it. I turned to my right and saw a small creek a few feet away. I crawled over to it and looked in.

Two yellow fish were swimming around in circles, zipping between the underwater plants as if playing tag. That was the moment I smiled for the first time in my life.

Then I froze. I began to look at what appeared to be my reflection. Before, my cheeks were caved in like I had the plague, my eyes were a light amber-brown, my lips were pale, my skin a pale whiteish grey, and my hair was long, tangled, and natted.

Not anymore. My cheeks were fuller, flushing red with color. My skin was now a smooth shade of ivory. My hair was past my chest, long, thick, dark chocolate brown, and a pretty wavy curl.

My eyes. They are what had changed the most. Instead of the light brown they had been, now they were a golden-yellow, like a cats almost. I reached up to touch my face, to see if it was real. It was.

Was I dreaming?

I stood up, and for the first time in my life it wasn't a struggle. I had more than enough strength to get myself to my feet. I felt amazing, better than I ever had.

I looked down at my body. I wasn't a walking sack of sticks anymore, I had meat to my bones,and curves. Nice curves, I might add.

I began to step out from the trees, into the middle of a clearing full of grass about a foot tall and purple flowers.

I stepped past the tree and into the bright sunlight. It was so bright I had to cover my eyes with one of my hands at first. I squinted up at the sky. It was... beautiful.

Just then a warm summer breeze came by, blowing my hair along with it. I closed my eyes and took in a deep breath. Everything smelled so sweet and wonderful.

I pulled my gloves off, along with my boots. I tossed them to the side and fell on my back into the grass. I let the grass tickle between my toes and fingers. I put my hands behind my head and closed my eyes, smiling.

"I could get used to this..."

I woke up to the sun being gone. For a second I panicked, fearing it had just been a dream and that I was still locked in that basement. I sighed with relief when I saw the trees that still surrounded me.

My heart was still pounding as I shakily reached over and grabbed my gloves and boots, putting them back on. I was snapping the last strap on my left boot when I heard an unfamiliar voice.

_"This is your new life, child. Your destiny awaits..."_

I shot up onto my feet and spun around in circles, head whipping back and fourth as I tried to figure out where the voice had come from.

Nothing. There was no one here with me.

I looked up at the night sky. Instead of the light blue it had been before, it was now a dark navy blue, white specks covering it.

"Those must be.. stars."

Then I saw it. Big, white, and round. The moon. A sudden strange feeling came over me as I stared, then I narrowed my eyes.

"Did you say that, or am I crazy?"

No response. I scoffed. I looked around me. Now what? I shrugged, deciding that doing a little exploring couldn't hurt.

I walked over to the creek, following it as I walked so I wouldn't get lost.

"How can I get lost when I'm not going anywhere specific?" I whispered to myself.

The moon light lit the way. The forest was dark, but not the kind of dark I feared. The kind of dark that comforted me. The dark didn't scare me, being in that basement did.

I heard crickets. It must be crickets, I hadn't read about any other animal that makes a noise like this.

After walking for a while, I saw a large flat rock at the edge of the creek and decided to sit for a moment.

I took my gloves off, setting them in my lap. I looked into the creek at myself. I stuck my hand in the gentle running water, letting it slip through and around my fingers.

There was rustling in a bush behind me. Panic spread through me in an instant, and I whipped around, hands in front of me.

Something happened. A small ball of fire shot from my right hand and at the bush. There was a yelp and an animal shot out and ran. It must have been a.. deer.

I looked down at my hands. What had just happened? I looked back up to see a few leaves burnt and crispy. Fear filled me, fear of what I didn't know about what had just happened.

I quickly shoved my gloves back on. I held my hands close to my chest, afraid to even move them. I silently stared into the dark forest, unsure of what to think, to do, or to feel.


	3. Learning New Things

Learning New Things

~~~3 months later~~~

I groaned.

It wasn't summer anymore. The pine leaves that filled my wondrous eyes were now brown and yellow, falling to the forest floor. The soft green grass was brown and brittle, stabbing me like an old rusty needle any time I tried touching it from the top. The beautiful purple and pink flowers were gone, I hadn't seen one in nearly three weeks.

I no longer welcomed breezes anymore, because now they weren't warm and sweet, they were cold and crisp, sending chills down my spine. I had learned to heat my body up anytime it got to cold. I'd built a tolerance to the cold, which would be useful since I didn't have a house to live in.

It took me over a month, but I was eventually able to make a home for myself by carving into the upper trunk of a large tree. A big branch forked out from the base of my hallow.

Right now I was sitting in my creek. The water was much colder now. It tasted better that way, I had to admit. The cold water didn't bother me too much, it actually helped me focus my thoughts when I had too much on my mind.

The cool water began to flow between my fingers. I had ripped off the finger part to my gloves, it now only covered to my mid hand and the base of my thumb. I liked it better that way, it made it easier to feel the texture of things.

I had learned to control my powers. I could make beach ball sized fire balls between my hands if I concentrated hard enough. With effort I could summon soft ball sized fire balls in each hand.

I had also taught myself to float in mid air. A recently learned talent, I had actually figured it out on accident. I had been sitting on a large rock in deep thought and eyes closed. After a while like this I realized I couldn't feel the rock anymore. I opened my eyes to find I was about two feet above the ground.

The highest I had gotten so far had been about six feet, triple what I originally had done. These were the only things I knew how to do. Sometimes I felt like there was something else building up inside of me, I just couldn't figure out what.

Sitting in my creek, two words began to run through my head that had been in there a lot recently.

How, and why?

How is it that one night I'm falling asleep on the cement of that forsaken basement, and the next morning I wake up on this beautiful forest floor with powers to control fire and levitate.

It didn't make sense, was it even possible? I had only read one book in my life, and it was full of magic. But did this sort of thing happen to normal people?

Ans also, why? If there was some bigger power that decides who gets these gifts, why me? There's nothing about me that's special. Nothing. In fact, I'm lower than special. I'm a monster.

I killed my own mother.

That was a deed that could never be forgiven. I was a mistake, I should never have happened. I should have died, not her. She didn't deserve that. I did. I'm an abomination.

I swung my arm through the water, making it splash into the air. I stood up, different emotional swirling inside me. Anger, regret, sadness.. I walked over to the nearest tree and punched it so hard it shook. When I pulled my hand back, my knuckles were bloodied, deep cuts exposing my lower layer of skin.

I screamed. I screamed at the tops of my lungs, not caring if the whole world heard me.

"I hate this! I hate not knowing why! I'm nothing! Nothing! Do you hear me?! Whoever you are, you made a mistake!"

I shook my head, then whispered "You made a mistake.."

I screamed again, trying to let all the emotion out. I didn't have experience with this, I wasn't sure what to do. This scream was louder, deeper, angrier.

Then something happened. There was a loud woosh, a flash of light, then it was gone. I blinked in confusion, then looked around. In a perfect circle around me, anything within a yard had been burned to a crisp. I had just made fire burst from myself into all directions.

Pain shot through my head. Screeching, I fell to my knees and grabbed the back of my cranium. It felt like someone was digging on the inside of my brain with a razor. The pain was sharp and agonizing. I thought I was going to die.

Then as soon at it started, it ended. I began to shake as I tried to catch my breath. I stayed like that for a moment before I wrapped my arms around myself and began to look around.

So I hadn't reached my full potential with my powers. How much could I do? What could I possibly be capable of?

I slowly stood, a new feeling I'd never felt before began to flow through me. I felt invincible, like nothing could harm me. This was my life. I was going to live it, and nothing could stop me.

I began to grin, spinning around with my arms out. I stopped, then made two ping-pong sized fire balls in my right hand, then twirled them between my fingers. I watched, amazed with my own power. The flames were bright orange and yellow, heat pulsing through them.

I looked up to the dark orange sky above me to watch the sunset. I put out my fire by closing my hand over the flames, they died almost instantly. I knew now would be the best time to get back to my tree. I began sprinting in the direction I needed to go.

Once there, I started to climb. I climbed to the very top of the tree, pushing leaves and branches out of my way as I did. I had learned to climb from bottom to top in less than 20 seconds.

I stopped and looked up. The sky was now dark blue with no clouds in sight. I could see every star visible to the naked eye. They sparkles like diamonds, beautiful and bright.

Then I turned to the moon. It was full tonight, a glowing white ring circling it. I almost felt like it was staring back at me. I always felt uneasy when looking up at the large night sun.

A cold gust of wind blew by. Shivering, I climbed back down the trunk and into my tree hallow. It wasn't huge, about three times the size of myself. It was just big enough to be comfortable. I sighed, laying down on the hard wood. The moment I closed my eyes, I had already fallen asleep.

Cold. That's the first word that popped into my head when I woke up. I felt like I had been shoved into a freezer like a turkey. I began to shiver, I had never been so cold since living here.

I focused on warming my body. Once it was at s satisfied temperature I sat up and stretched. I yawned, then turned to look outside.

If I had been standing, I probably would have fallen over. Everything was white. The trees were topped with shining white substance that glew in the moonlight. I slowly crawled over to get an up close examination. I reached down and picked some up in my hands.

It was very cold and wet. It crumbled between my fingers, falling back onto the tree. I thought for s second, then my brows creased in confusion.

"S... snow?"

**Authors Note: Oooh, a sudden gust of cold wind and sudden, unexplained snow? You know what that means, a certain winter spirit is near by! **

**The reason Scarlett thinks so low of herself is because those are the only things she ever heard from her father. If someone said things like that to you your whole life and that's all you heard, you'd believe it like second nature too.**

**So far I have no reveiws. I need some or I won't post the next chapter, I don't want to be writing to an empty audience. Take some guesses on what you think is going to happen in the story!**


	4. Meeting

Meeting

"S... snow?"

I'd only read about it in my book. I had never seen it in person, but I knew this must be it. Small ice flakes packed together to create this.

A thought sped through my mind. A quick, innocent thought. As I looked down at the snow in my hand, I focused heat like I normally do to warm myself; but instead of moving it around inside I pushed outwards with it. In a split second, the snow melted in my hand. I grinned, beginning to stand up.

I set each hand on different sides of my hallow's entrance, then did the same thing as I had before. I closed my eyes, concentrating a little harder. I waited for a moment, then opened my eyes. Every inch of snow that had covered the tree was now melted into nothing.

I stepped outside and onto the large branch that forked from the entrance to my home. I looked around. Everything was white, covered in snow. I frowned. Why did this have to happen? Why here?

I jumped from the branch, landing full force into snow at least half a foot deep. Because of my boots, I couldn't even feel the cold. I silently thanked whatever gave me these boots. My stomach and back where the larger diamond shaped cut out was could feel the cold, though.

I lifted my left fist, then punched the ground in front of my full force. Snow within a fifteen foot radius of me disappeared. I stood, nodding approval at my work.

My ears were filled with the sound of silence. I turned my head in confusion. Normally I could here the flowing water of the creek from here. It was faint, but I could hear it none the less.

But not right now. Right now it was as if the entire creek had just stopped flowing. Worry spread inside me as I turned, sprinting off in the direction of which it should have been coming from. After about two minutes, I finally reached my destination. I stopped on the edge of bank, blinking back tears.

The entire creek was frozen over into solid ice. My creek, my comfort zone, the place I'd grown to love and couldn't live without, was dead. I dropped to my knees, placing both palms of my hands onto the surface of the ice. I closed my eyes and once again forced my heat outwards.

After a moment it worked. The ice slowly began to melt, and the water started to flow freely once more as it always had. A faint smile found it's way to my blood red lips as I let out a sigh of relief.

"Hey, I just got done freezing that!"

I shot to my feet, a fire ball forming into each hand. I spun around in a circle two times, yet saw no one. The voice had been a boy's, or man's. Fear trickled inside my mind, prodding and teasing to weaken me. I wouldn't let it win, not anymore.

"Where are you?! Come out so I can see you, coward!" I spat, trying to keep my voice from shaking.

"Coward? I'm not even hiding from you. Turn around."

Without hesitation, I did as he said. My mind went blank, and I lost my breath.

He was standing there, smirking at me. He wore a blue pull over hoodie with was flaked with ice in certain spots, ripped brown pants that came just past his knees, and a long wooden staff which curved downwards at the top.

He had pale skin, paler than I though possible. His hair was as white as the snow around us. His eyes were a deep blue, the color I had always pictured the Arctic Ocean to be. I held onto them, I just couldn't pull myself away...

"Are you going to keep staring at me, or are you going to apologize for melting the creek I just iced over?"

I blinked, realizing my fire balls had gone out. I stared at my hand, then back to him. I narrowed my eyes.

"Why would I apologize for fixing that horrendous thing you did?"

He looked taken aback, even hurt.

"Horrendous? I'm sorry, but this," he motioned to all around us, "is my job."

I raised an eye brow, taking a nervous step back.

"Your job? You mean, you made this snow?"

He grinned again then nodded. "Yeah, I do it every day. Wanna see?"

I shook my head quickly, giving him a look of disgust.

"No, I do, NOT want to see! Why would I want to see?" I felt offended by his words. He should know I obviously am not interested in seeing his creation of something I hated.

He looked at me, not saying anything. I got an uneasy feeling, then glared at him.

"What?" I spat.

He smiled, rolling his eyes.

"Of coarse you wouldn't like snow, you're a fire spirit! Why didn't I realize that!"

I tilted my head. "A... fire spirit?"

He nodded, his smile widening. "Yes, although, I have to say I've never seen one for myself. Fire looks good on you." He think winked at me, which sent a million alarms to start screaming in my head.

I lit two fire balls in my hands as I glared at him. "Wink at me again and I'll show you just how good you look as a burnt piece of ass!"

He laughed at me, which caught me off guard. What was so funny? His laugh was warm sounding through, comforting almost.

"Nice one, I can see you're feisty. That's always fun."

I scoffed. "Fun? Fun is pointless."

It wasn't even an insult, it was just a statement. But of everything I had said to him so far, that seemed to strike a chord. His eyes were filled with hurt, confusion, and another emotion I couldn't see.

"Fun is pointless? Someone didn't have a childhood." He snorted.

Pain shot through my chest. No, he didn't know how much he was right, but it still hurt to hear.I just looked away from him, squeezing my fists together as I blinked back tears.

"You have no idea..." I whispered.

I looked back to see him looking at me, a weird look on his face. He bent down, scooping a ball of snow into his hand. He brought it close to his mouth, then blew onto it. The snow ball now began to glow light blue, sparking almost.

"What's that..?" I asked.

Instead of answering, he unexpected through the ball right at my face. I coughed, almost choking on snow that had found its way into my mouth and throat. I felt heat rise in my cheeks,anger making me want to burn him into ashes.

As I was about to toss a fire ball at his face, an odd thing happened. I laughed. The first genuine laugh of my life. The anger left almost immediately, and was replaced with a different, new feeling.

I quickly grabbed snow into my own hands, forming a sloppy snow blob and tossing at him. It hit him square in the face, thanks to my practicing with my own magic balls.

"Eat it, Snowball!"

He wiped the snow from his grinning face.

"You wanna do something really fun?"

"Like what?"

He took a step closer to me, now only about four feet from me.

"Do you trust me?"

I laughed, shaking my head. "No."

He smirked, then grabbed my hand and pulling me back over to the creek. I didn't even get the chance to fight him off.

He pointed his staff at the water, and it instantly began to freeze over again. My brows creased.

"What are you doing?!"

He turned to me, pointing his staff at my feet. A beam of ice shot at my boots, and then I suddenly lost my balance and fell over. Well, almost fell over.

He caught me before I hit the ground, one arm behind my back, bending over as he supported my weight with his own. His blue eyes stared intensely into my yellow ones. I narrowed them.

He quickly spun me around, getting me back to my feet. "My name is Jack " he then pointed down to my boots, "We're going ice skating."

I looked down and noticed a thin, sharp layer of ice on the bottom of each boot. He'd turned my shoes into ice skates! I looked up at him.

"That's why I fell over.."

He chuckled. "What, did you think I knocked you down for fun?"

I laughed with him. "Yes.."

Jack rolled his eyes, then took my hand in his and drug me over to the ice. I shook my head violently.

"No, no I don't know how to!"

He pulled me onto the ice, holding me up by both hands.

"That's okay, I'll teach you. Here, move your feet like this. Don't think about it, just do it. If you hesitate, you'll fall."

I nodded, mimicking his moves. To my surprise, I moved forward with ease. I practiced a few more times, practically nailing it.

"You're doing great for a beginner! Now let's work on the breaks and turning."

It took a while, but I mastered those too. He grinned, nodding approval at me.

"Now it's time for the real fun to begin!"

Without any warning, he grabbed my hand nd spun me around quickly. I squealed as I lost my balance, falling backwards. Again, he caught me. I looked up into his eyes, the full moon glowing bright behind him.

"Nice catch Snowball, but spin me like that again and I'll have to burn your hair off."

The only thing he said back was, "Jack Frost."

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

His eyes were intense, as if staring into my very soul.

"My name is Jack Frost."

I paused, then chuckled. "Oh really? Well I like Snowball better."

He smirked. "Now I'm starting to think you _want_ me to drop you."

I shook my head. "No!"

He stood me back up, then pulled me off the ice. I lifted my right foot, pointing at the bottom.

"How do I get rid of these?" I asked.

He turned back and looked at me.

"The same way you melted the creek earlier," he replied.

I blinked. Of coarse! I sat back in the snow, pressing each hand on the ice. It melted quickly. I leaned black into the soft snow, placing my hands behind my head.

Jack crouched down four feet away from me, supporting himself with his start. He looked up at the sky, staring at the moon. I watched him for a moment, then followed his gaze.

The moon normally creeped me out, but not tonight. Tonight it almost felt comforting. Almost like it was watching over me, keeping me safe from harm. It was strange, all of this. Every part of it. I guess that's life, though.

"Scarlett."

Jack turned to me after I broke the peaceful silence.

"What?"

I looked over at him. "That's my name, my name is Scarlett."

He thought for a moment, then smiled sweetly.

"Scarlett... I like it. It's a pretty name."

I felt my cheeks get hot, and not the kind of hot I make.

"Uh... thanks.."

He didn't reply, he just sat there, looking back at the moon, I sighed, closing my eyes, getting ready to sleep. As odd as it sounded, I felt safe with Jack. Yes, it makes more sense for me to be weary of him, but if he wanted to hurt me he would have already.

I had almost fallen asleep, when a sound startled me. I opened my eyes, not sure if I had really heard it or if it was just my imagination. Then I heard it again.

A growl. A deep, terrifying growl. I shot up, backing away from the bushes, a fire ball in each hand. Jack gave me a strange look.

"What's wrong?"

"There's.. something in the bushes."

He chuckled. "Its probably a deer."

I looked at him, unsure.

"How many deer have you seen thaf growl and have glowing red eyes and fangs?"

He shot to his feet, staff in a tight grip as he slowly walked over to me, looking into the same bush I was.

It began to crawl from the snow and leaves. It was a huge beast. Four feet tall, and at least six feet wide. It looked like a cross between a large rat and a wolf. It's red eyes stared right into mine.

I felt fear rise up inside me as it snarled, tongue falling out over its long, sharp fangs. They were at least two inches long. It's paws were twice the size of my hand, fingers in all.

It lunged for me. I was too scared to react, I just stood, frozen still.

It was barely a foot away from me in the air when a blue flash shot from my right, directly into the side of the beast. It screeched, falling to The ground, now in a layer of ice, frozen solid.

I looked over at Jack. His staff was pointing at the thing, anger twisting on his face. It scared me, almost. Then there was a bone chilling howl not that far off, then another, and another..

Something in the sky caught my attention. I looked up to see a strip of blue, green, pink, and purple light waving across the sky. I blinked in confusion.

"It's the Northern Lights."

I acknowledged Jack's words.

"Don't they stay up north, then?"

He shook his head, concern written all over his expression. Another howl, closer this time.

"Not always."

Before I could reply, he turned to me, eyes locking on my own.

"We need to go, now."

I stared at him like he was crazy.

"Go where, exactly?!"

He grinned, reaching his hand out so I could take it.

"The North Pole."

**Authors note: Will she go with Jack, or will she convince herself not to trust him?!**

**If there's any misspellings, I apologize! I don't have a spell check on my device. I do reread my chapters, but I don't catch every mistake. **

**I want some reveiws, let me know what you think of the story so far, and what you think will happen!:D**


	5. Flying

"The North Pole?" I stared at him. I'd never heard of it before. Was this some kind of joke? Obviously not, because he reached forward and took my hand in his.

"Yes, The North Pole. You'll be safe there, I promise. It's far away from here. Granted, it gets pretty cold, but I don't think that will be an issue for you." His voice was warm, it was promising. Could I believe his words? Was he trying to trick me? Could it be a trap? Another howl sounded from the distance, making me decide that I didn't exactly have a choice.

I looked at him, part of me still hesitant. He noticed that I was having trouble deciding weather to stay or go, so he raised an eyebrow.

"Unless you prefer to be torn apart by evil wolves, then be my guest."

Panic made me shake my head. I had to go with him, I wasn't left with choice.

"Do you trust me?" He asked, his grip tightening around my palm. I laughed nervously.

"No."

He chuckled. "We'll then this should be fun."

Before I could ask what he was talking about, his arm wrapped around my waist, and then he shot up into the air. I screamed at the top of my lungs, not expecting this to happen at all. My arms wrapped around his stomach so tight, even to this day I wasn't sure how he could breathe correctly in that moment.

"You can fly?!" I squeaked loudly. He looked down at me, that mischievous grin of his plastered across his smug little face. Instead of answering me, he turned to no specific direction.

"Wind, take us to North's workshop!"

I stared at him like he was crazy. This boy was seriously talking to the wind! I was about to say a snide comment,when a loud whoosh sound caught my attention. I looked around and saw nothing. Confused, I gripped Jack's hoodie tighter. Suddenly we were pushed forward, speeding through the air; going at least 100mph.

I screamed again, louder this time. I couldn't have been holding onto him and tighter. If I had, he would have popped in half. He just chuckled at me, his grip tightening in attempt to comfort me, silently telling me that he wasn't going to drop me.

The trees below us were a green and white blur. The wind blew my hair around, it began to whip into my face. I groaned in annoyance. I started to shake from fear. I guess I had a fear of heights, or maybe just a fear of flying over a hundred feet in the air. Either way, I was completely and utterly terrified.

"It's kind of scary at first, but it's not that bad once you relax and realize you aren't going to fall." Jack said to me.

I glared at him. "Don't make promises that you can't keep."

He rolled his eyes, a smirk on his face. "I've been doing this for over three hundred years and I've only fallen out of the sky twice."

I felt a jolt of panic. So he had fallen before! "See! You can't make that promise, then!" I whined.

He shrugged. "We'll the first time was my first time in the sky, I didn't know how to fly. The second time... Well, that wasn't exactly my fault."

Not his fault. What a believable excuse. I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, sure. Not your fault."

He looked down at me like I had insulted him. The next thing I knew, I was being tossed and flipped up into the air like a pancake. I screeched. I'm going to die! This blasted ice spirit is going to kill me! My screams echoed through the crisp, cold air. My arms and legs flailed around me, desperately trying to grasp anything in reach, knowing it was useless because I was too high in the air. If I made it out of this alive, I'd kill him. I'd burn that smug smirk right off his face. I'd melt him into a puddle of water, then heat it up so much it would evaporate. Then I'd..

I didn't get to finish that thought. I slammed hard into something, it knocked my breath away. I hit the ground a lot faster than I thought. I began to cough painfully, my chest heaving up and down.

"Is that better?" Jack asked.

I blinked, realizing that I wasn't on the ground. I blinked, confused. I looked around me, realizing in was still in the air. I was laying on top of Jack's back, him still flying stomach down. He was looking up at me sideways. I felt the urge to punch him in the face for doing that. I pulled my fist back, ready to do so. When my weight shifted, I noticed nothing was holding me to him. I could roll off his back and fall at any second. I yelped, my arms quickly wrapping around his neck. He chuckled in amusement, which triggered more anger inside me.

"Give me one good reason when I shouldn't burn you alive, Frost!" I hissed.

He laughed. "If you do that, then we'll both fall. All the way to the ground."

He had a point. And that one point may have been the only thing that kept him alive.

"Just wait until we land." I growled.

"That's no way to talk to someone who just saved your life. Twice, actually."

I stuck my nose up at him. "I hardly count throwing me up into the air, scaring me half to death, then catching me on your back just for giggles, as 'saving my life"

He didn't reply to that, and I didn't even have to look down at him to know he was smiling. Was everything a game to this boy? What if he missed, and hadn't been able to catch me? Would it still be funny then? Would he be laughing at my pathetic body crumbled in the snow? I couldn't help but picture him hovering over a bloody version of me, pointing and laughing. I narrowed my eyes.

"What if you hadn't caught me? What if I fell?" I asked.

"But you didn't." He said matter-of-factly. I was running out of patience with this child. He may look 17 or 18, but he had the maturity of a 14 year old.

"Would it still be funny to watch me fall to my death? Would you still be laughing then?" I spat.

Something about the look on his face when I said that stirred something inside me. He actually thought about what I said. There was no doubt he was going through the possibility that he could have dropped me. He was imagining me falling from the sky air, hitting the ground with a sickening thud. His expression darkened, and he refused to make eye contact with me at that point. He looked everywhere but up at me. He cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry.." He mumbled. I detected a hint of pain in his voice. Was he really that upset over it? Good, he should be.

"I shouldn't have tossed you like that.." He continued unexpectedly, catching me off guard. "I just wanted to lighten up the situation a little. It didn't even cross my mind that you could fall.. I just.. It just happened. I guess my confidence in the air is pretty high.."

I felt bad about snapping at him like I did. He obviously felt bad about what he had done. But that didn't excuse it, he could have killed me.

"I'm not an object you can just toss around for a laugh. I'm a human being, and believe it or not we are fragile creatures."

When I said the last part, he gave me a strange look like I had told him I was a horse. I began to feel uncomfortable with the look he continued to give me, so I cleared my throat.

"Where is it we're going exactly?"

His demeanor changed to a happier mood, but the gloom from the tension of a few seconds ago still hovered over him.

"The North Pole. I have some friends there."

Friends? More people? I didn't know how to handle this. He's the only person I'd even communicated with besides my father. I flinched.

"I don't know.." I mumbled.

He looked up at me and gave me a smile. "Don't worry, you'll like them! I promise. North will seem intimidating at first glance, but trust me, he's just a big teddy bear. His elves are little devils, always getting in the way of everything! The yetis are decent, just don't mess up any toy they're trying to make, they won't forgive you no matter how much you try to make up for it. Trust me.

"Sandy doesn't talk much, but he's still fun to be around. He's my best friend. I spend the most time with him when I'm not off causing blizzards and snow days. We just fly around the world together. He tries to keep me out of trouble, I try too. But sometimes I just can't help myself.

"Tooth is an air head, but she's got heart. Her fairies are the cutest little things with wings that you'll ever see. Baby Tooth is the one I'm closest with though, saved her life a couple times. Anytime that Tooth comes by North's shop, Baby Tooth comes so she can see me. And Bunny.."

He trailed off. That made me look at him strange. "What about her?" I asked.

He sighed. "He. I'm just trying to think of the words to describe him. Cottontail isn't the easiest to get along with, honestly. I have no idea how he'll react to you. I mean, he hated me for decades. We may argue still, but I know he cares." He glanced up with a smirk. "He ties acting all big and bad, but he's just a big softy on the inside. I won't let him bother you. Don't worry."

This Bunny character seemed interesting. I was nervous about what he friends would think of me? What if they didn't like me? What if they hated me? I swallowed, awkwardly shifting my weight on his back.

"So.. How old are you exactly?" I asked. I noticed him saying something about flying for over 300 years. It caught my attention, and now I wanted to know.

"I'm 323, to be exact. I was 17 when I died."

I stared at him. He had died!? If he died, then how was he here? Is that even possible?

"How can that even happen?" I whispered to myself.

He heard me, because I saw him grin. "Man in the Moon. He made me what I am. I was a normal human before this. When I died, he saved me."

I looked up at the setting moon to our left. Man in the Moon? There was a person living on the moon? I almost wouldn't have believed him, if I wasn't flying through the air on his back. I had seen his ice powers, and I had fire powers of my own. If magic could be real, why couldn't a man live on the moon?

Suddenly I thought back to the first night I woke up like this. That voice I had heard, it came from everywhere. I remember how big and bright the moon was that night, and I remember looking up at it, wondering if it had been it that had spoken to me. Before I realized what I was asking, the words flew from my mouth before I could stop them.

"Does he talk to you?"

His face fell a little bit, as if the question saddened him. I felt a pang of regret for asking, my cheeks turning uncomfortably hot.

"Once. He told me my name when I woke up, that's it. Other than that, he hasn't talked to me in all these centuries. He talks to the other guardians, mostly North though."

So it had been the moon I heard! If we hadn't been up in the air, I might have jumped up and down in excitement. I paused, then tilted my head to look down at him.

"So what's a guardian?"

He chuckled. "We protect the children of the world. I'm the guardian of fun, if you hadn't figured that out by now. North is the guardian of wonder, Tooth of memories, Sandy of dreams, and Bunny of hope. Man in the Moon chose us for this job."

I tried to take all that in. All of it is so strange.

"Does that happen to everyone when they die?"

Jack snorted. "Hardly. Most spirits don't even die. I didn't even have the memory to my pervious life, which was another odd thing apparently."

It went quiet after that for a while. Jack had been right, flying could be fun. But I still couldn't shake the feeling that I might fall. The skyline was beautiful, and so was the ground below.

"How much farther?" I asked after a bit.

"Not much." He replied.

I had noticed there weren't any trees anymore. Only snow covered valleys and mountains. It had gotten colder, much colder. I didn't want to heat myself up, fear of burning Jack wouldn't let me. With him being a winter spirit, I don't think he'd fend well against my fire and heat.

Then I realized something. Here I was, wondering if I should trust Jack, when he's the one who should be wondering that about me! His ice would be useless against me. He'd be lucky to even cause a scratch. But my fire against him? I could melt him into a puddle in five seconds flat.

So why wasn't he wary of me? He didn't even hesitate on his decision to take me. Shouldn't he have at least paused, considering that maybe I planned on killing or hurting him? No, he didn't. I could tell that all he thought about was getting me out of there. There had been something else on his mind, but it didn't have to do with me. It had something to do with those Northern Lights.

He stayed in close distance of that pink, purple, blue, and green strip of lights in the sky. They never left his sight. He occasionally glanced over to look at them, a troubled look on his face. Did the lights mean something was wrong?

"What's the problem?" I asked him.

He jumped at my unexpected question. He hesitated, then answered. "I don't know, honestly. North sends those lights out when the guardians need to meet up. It normally means there's trouble. It's been six years since he's sent out the lights. Sometimes it could just b Manny wanting to talk to us. Well, talk to them anyway."

"Manny?" I questioned.

He grinned. "Man in the Moon."

I nodded. "Ah.."

We needed to hurry up and get wherever it is we were going. It was freezing. Even though Jack couldn't feel the cold, I can. I suppressed a shiver. I didn't want him to know I was cold, to think that I'm weak. I tried to nonchalantly snuggle against his jacket, hoping it might help. Of coarse, again I forgot that he's a winter spirit, in an eternal cold. I groaned silently.

"We're here." He said suddenly.

My eyes shot up. Finally! I didn't even care anymore about his friends, at all I cared about is getting warm. I couldn't help the gasp of amazement that escaped my mouth when I saw it.

The workshop was absolutely huge! It sat on a mountain side, surrounded by beautiful white snow. It looked almost like a palace with the morning sun glistening a light pink color in the snow. I sighed, I could already feel the warmth radiating from inside.

Jack landed in front of two large red doors. The doors were at least twenty feet tall. I swallowed hard, my nerves immediately becoming uneasy. Jack walked up next to me, hands on his hips as he looked up at the door, admiring their large size.

"Pretty sweet, huh?"

I swallowed. "Sweet.. Yeah.." My voice croaked. If it weren't for the fact I almost couldn't feel my fingers anymore I would have backed out and ran.

Jack rested his hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, they'll like you. I promise."

I turned to look at him. He was less than a foot away from me. His eyes were on mine. They were bright blue, like a freshly frozen pond. For the first time I really payed attention to them. They were glowing pale blue, white flecks all around. Wait.. No.. Not flecks. The white splotches formed into the shape of.. a snowflake! His irises literally had snowflakes in them. They were so beautiful, I almost began to swoon.

I noticed I had been staring for more than five seconds, and felt my cheeks burn horribly. I knew they must be bright red. I quickly turned away, clearing my throat. Jack chuckled at my sudden bashful behavior.

"Well come on then, we'd better get inside and see what's going on."

I followed him as he opened the doors. I was immediately of welcomed with the smell of baked sweets. I grinned, breathing in deeply. Whatever it was, I wanted some of it. My stomach began to growl from my unnoticed hunger.

"We'll get you something to eat in the kitchen after I figure out what's going on." Jack offered.

I'm not sure how many times I could blush within ten minutes, but now it was up to two times. I silently cursed my stomach for being so loud with it's needs.

We stepped inside, warmth hugging my entire body. If I was alone, I might have moaned in pleasure. Of coarse I didn't, we all know how awkward that would have been. Instead I stuck with a satisfied sigh. The doors shut loudly, enough to make the ground shake. I flinched in surprise.

"Arguuargahh!" I heard from beside me.

I jumped, running behind Jack. My heart rate began to speed up. The sprang sound had come from a large, furry... Person? I blinked, confused. Jack chuckled.

"It's okay, Phil. She's with me."

The thing glared back and forth between us, before finally waving an annoyed hand and walking away. Jack looked down at me, to where I was still cowering.

"Don't mind the yetis. They're always like that with strangers."

He helped me stand back up straight again. "Now," he said, "let's go see who's all arrived so far, shall we?"

~~~~~Authors Note~~~~~

**How will the guardians react to her? I think the bigger question is, how will Bunny react to her? Find out in the next chapter!**


	6. North's Workshop

He took my hand and led me through a crowded group off yetis. My mind couldn't take in everything I was seeing with my own eyes. Toys the size of elephants flew through the air. Yetis were hard at work making toys, painting them all different colors. Reds, blues, greens.. Lights in every color streamed along the walls, shining as bright as the night stars. I looked over the edge of the balcony, my eyes widening as I realized just how far up we were.

I turned away, not wanting to loose my nerve. I gasped at the image of the huge globe in front of me. It was so big, at least fifteen feet tall. Little lights glistened at different spots, twinkling almost. I smiled. It was all so.. Beautiful.

"Pretty amazing, huh?" Jack whispered from next to me. I nodded in excitement as short little men in pointy red hats walked past us, all of the, eyeing me suspiciously. I bit my lip, still smiling.

"Can we look around more? Please!" I begged him.

Jack chuckled. "Yeah, we can. But we'd need to talk to North first. This is his workshop, after all."

I sighed, but agreed with him. It would be rude to do so without the man who lived here giving permission. I know I wouldn't be happy if a complete stranger went looking through my home, whatever their reasoning being. Jack grinned at me, letting me know that my intentions were completely innocent and not to dwell on them. I think he was about to say something, but before he could, a loud voice echoed from somewhere in the workshop.

"What do you mean, he has someone with him? Who is it?"

Whoever it was, they had a heavy foreign accent, one I'd never heard before. They were loud, their voice boomed with power. When a man in a red long sleeve shirt came around the corner, I froze. Tall didn't begin to describe him. He had to be at least eight feet tall. He had a beard that was as white as Jack's hair. The mans white hair was sleazed back. Hair gel maybe? He had big, blue eyes. Almost like baby. Those big eyes fell immediately on me, and I immediately felt about two feet tall. I wanted to shrink to the size of a mouse and hide in Jack's pocket. The man looked at Jack, then back to me.

"Who are you?" He asked.

I wanted to answer him, I really did. When my mouth went to open to talk, no sound came. My throat dried up, and my tongue felt like the size of a golf ball. I know I looked stupid, standing there with my mouth hanging open like a dumbfounded idiot. Picturing me doing so made me close my mouth, and I took a wobbly step back. The man raised an eyebrow. He was interested in me, which if found quite odd.

"Name? What is your name?" I paused, then shook my head and cleared my throat. What was wrong with me? When I met Jack, I was ready to burn his face off. Why was I acting so.. bizarre?

"Scarlett." I managed to choke out. He thought it over for a second, then stood up straight, turning to look at Jack.

"You didn't tell me you were bringing a guest." He said, a strange tone to his voice.

It was obvious to me that he was trying to tell Jack something in his words that he didn't want me to notice. But I had noticed, that's the thing. I'm not stupid, and I'm not a child. I notice things, small things. Every detail to someone's demeanor. You'd think being locked in a basement almost my whole life would make me not notice such things, but that's the reason I could. Everyone grew up around talking to people, so when small gestures, tones of voice, or awkward body movements occurred, they eventually learned to ignore it. They didn't notice it. But I noticed these things, and I wasn't one to keep quiet about it.

"I'm sorry sir." I said quietly. Jack and the man both turned to me in surprise. I folded my hands neatly behind my back, then continued. "You see, me and Jack just met earlier tonight." My voice had suddenly received a formal tone to it. Where had that come from? I pushed the thought aside as the man turned to Jack.

"You brought a complete stranger into my shop?!" He accused. Oh! So this was North! I suddenly felt all my worry melt as I looked at him. Jack had warned me he would look intimidating. I glanced over at Jack, noticing he looked worried about what the old man planned on doing to him. I straightened my posture as I prepared to save him from a scolding.

"Jack has told me much about you." North looked at me once more, and I didn't stop talking. My words began to run together as I rushed them out. "I was asleep and woke up to snow, so I went to look around. That's when I found Jack. We had started to become comfortable with each other when we were attacked by these huge wolves, with glowing red eyes. Jack only brought me because the wolves were trying to hurt me. He didn't give me a choice."

At the mention of the wolves, North's eyebrows creased. Then I noticed something. I narrowed my eyes.

"Your eyebrows are brown." His eyes widened, and he blinked, confused as to what my point was. "They're brown, but your hair is white. It's very odd."

Suddenly Jack busted out laughing. Was what I said funny? I looked at him strangely, then turned back to North, who gave me a blank expression. I began to worry that I said something I shouldn't have, but then North began to laugh. It was the kind of laugh that could make you feel like everything would be fine, that nothing was wrong in the world. Once he stopped laughing, he looked at Jack smiling.

"I like her. She's honest, is funny." I guess what I said was funny then. North walked up to me, pulling his hand up as if to pat me on the back. I flinched away, just fast enough so his hand didn't touch me. I could feel the wisp on air against my shoulder. He seemed surprised by my sudden reaction. I didn't like being touched. Jack was different, though. I knew he wouldn't hurt me, or betray me. If he could trust me enough not to kill him, I could trust him enough to be close to me.

"Sorry.." I mumbled. I really hope he didn't ask why I acted like that, because I would look rude when I refused to explain. How could I explain to a complete stranger that my entire life if been abused by the one man that was supposed to protect me from the exact things he did to me? They would stare at me, look at me like a piece of broken trash. I looked at the ground, avoiding eye contact with the jolly man.

"Is okay. You don't like being touched. But you will need to follow me and Jack, there are some things in the need of discussing."

He turned and began to walk away, motioning with his hand for Jack and me to follow. I turned to Jack, silently asking if I should do as he said. He gave me a smile and nodded his head as he started to follow North. I was somehow able to make my legs move and do the same. We arrived in front of a door, slightly bigger than North. He turned to Jack before opening it.

"Tooth and Sandy are already here. Bunny is.. Uh.. Late."

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Since when is a Cottontail late?"

North gave him a look that tried to hide that he was worried. This time, even Jack didn't buy it. At that moment, me and my new friend realized something bad was going on. North opened the door and allowed me and Jack to enter. Before I could realize what was going on, I saw a flash of green, blue, pink, and yellow.

"Who's this?" A females voice asked. I looked at her. She was buzzing through the air, her wings carrying her around. She had the body shape of a human, but feathers like a bird. Her face was human, and she had large magenta eyes. I stared at her, starstruck by her beauty.

"This is Scarlett." North explained, walking past the bird-woman. I must have still been staring, because she tilted her head at me.

"Is something on my face?" She asked. I couldn't stop the words before they came out of my mouth.

"Yeah, you've got a lot of pretty everywhere." If I could go back in time, I would have slapped myself across the face for saying something so pathetic and lame. Her eyes lit up, and a large smile spread across her face.

"I like her!" She exclaimed. Everything about her was graceful. Her voice, her movement, everything.

North chuckled. "Is what I said!"

I was about to say something when I felt a tug at my pants. I jumped away and looked down to see what had done this. My eyes widened when I saw a short, two foot tall little man made out of our glowing, gold sand. He smiled up at me and waved without saying anything. I remembered Jack saying that Sandy doesn't talk much, so I smiled warmly at the little man.

"Sandy. Jack told me you talk through pictures over your head made out of your dream sand. Can you show me?"

I bent down and placed my hands on my knees, as if I was talking to a small child. Not that I thought he was a child, it just seemed appropriate for the moment. He didn't seem to mind, because his smile only grew as he nodded at me as a bunch of pictures appeared over his head, going so fast that I just couldn't keep up. I giggled.

"That's pretty cool. You're just an adorable little fellow, aren't you?"

His cheeks turned bright red as he held his hands together in front of him and began to swing back and forth like a toddler who had fallen in love. I grinned, standing back up straight. Suddenly, the bird lady was in my face.

"Open up!" She exclaimed.

I blinked at her. What on Earth was she talking about. I took a step back, not comfortable with my personal space being intruded.

"Umm."

She was reaching for my face, a large grin on her face, when Jack shot forward and stood between us, his back to me as he faced her.

"Tooth, she doesn't want you looking at her teeth!" He said.

He wasn't being rude, but he definitely got his point across. Her smile faded, and then she forced it back.

"Sorry," she looked at me. "I can't help myself sometimes. I am the Tooth Fairy, after all."

I'd hurt her feelings. By rejecting her and backing away, she'd taken it as I didn't want her near me. Even though it was true, she was taking it more personal than she should. I rubbed my arm nervously.

"I'm sorry.. I just don't do well around people." I mumbled.

I liked her, I really did. It's just that at this point, I didn't have very good people skills. In all honesty, I didn't want to. I can already tell I don't like being around many people. Just being around these four was more than enough to put me on edge. I backed away from them a little more, hoping that doing so would calm my nerves. Jack stepped over next to me, then placed a hand on my shoulder. I looked over at him, surprised. He gave me a gentle smile, trying to convince me everything would be fine. I shrugged his hand off, glaring at him.

"I don't need your help. I can handle myself very well, Frost. And in the future, try to hold back from touching me."

He blinked in shock at me. Even I was taken aback by my tone with him. I hadn't been hostile with him before, and now all of a sudden my guard was up. He narrowed his eyes in confusion.

"You didn't mind it earlier." He pointed out. I straightened my stance, placing my hands neatly behind my back.

"Yes, well you caught me off guard then. I wasn't exactly myself for some reason. Just refrain from touching me or standing too close."

I felt different now. Almost as if I had gained a boost of confidence I'd never had before. He tilted his head to the side.

"Why are you suddenly talking in a British accent?"

I blinked. I had noticed that the way I spoke had slowly started to change, but I hadn't realized how much until now. My mouth opened slightly before I answered him.

"I don't know."

It was the truth. I didn't know. It had just started coming all on its own. It felt natural, more natural than how I had been talking. He was about to say something else, but was interrupted by a loud clearing of the throat by North. We both turned to look at him as he spoke.

"I haven't noticed any difference," he began, "but we have more important matters than how someone speaks. Please, tell Tooth and Sandy what you told me, Scarlett." Jack took a step forward.

"Shouldn't we wait on Bunny?"

North shook his head. "As much as I want to, we must discuss these matters. Bunny being late is his problem, he'll just have to catch up." Jack narrowed his eyes.

"He.. He isn't in trouble.. Is he?"

His voice held obvious concern, which I found strange. Jack had told me Bunny was annoying, and hard to get along with. Was their more to their relationship than he had informed me on? North gave Jack a sad look.

"I'm not sure. None of us have seen him or heard from him lately. Jack, have you?"

Jack frowned. "No.. The last time I saw him was Easter in Canada. I was making a small snow storm just to get on his nerves.. It worked, but that was the last time I saw him.."

The other three guardians shared a sad look, and Jack noticed it.

"Wait," he began, "are you telling me no one has seen or heard from Bunny for seven months?" His voice raised slightly, and he was almost shaking. His eyes swirled with emotion. He was upset, worried about his friend. That much was obvious. North put a hand up, signaling for Jack to calm down.

"Jack, sometimes we wouldn't hear from Bunny for years. It's just how he is. He is not a.. What's the word?.. a people person. You know this Jack."

Jack looked ready to blow up, I could practically feel he emotion rolling off of him in waves of heat.

"Well then we need to go to The Warren to make sure he's okay!"

North shook his head. "Jack, no. That is bad idea. Besides, he has not given you access, that we know of." Jack's eye twitched in irritation.

"Access? What's that?" North crossed his arms.

"You can not enter The Warren unless you go through one of his tunnels, which he has to create, or if he gives you access. That is when Bunny makes it possible for you to enter The Warren without him being with you. Mostly for emergency purposes. We don't have access, Jack. None of us do."

Jack shifted on his feet.

"Then why does it it even exist if he hasn't given anyone access?" He asked.

North rubbed the back of his head. "Well, he has given someone access. It just wasn't us."

"Who was it?" Jack questioned.

North shook his index finger back and forth, as if telling him no. "That is not my business to tell. Do not ask Bunny about it. If he wishes to tell you, he will on his own time. I mean it, Jack. Do. Not. Ask. Him."

Jack threw his hands in the air in frustration. "I've been a guardian for six years now, almost seven, and you guys still keep things from me! I feel like I deserve to know things, too. If it wasn't for me, Pitch would be out there giving kids nightmares and you guys would be dead. I think the least I deserve is to not have secrets kept from me. Don't you?"

North frowned. "We tell you everything you need to know."

"But what about the things I want to know? The things I deserve to know?!"

Jack was fuming at this point, furious for being kept in the dark about this. I stepped back away from him, not wanting him to find a reason to yell at me. Believe it or not, but the playful winter spirit could be intimidating. Tooth flew forward, face full of concern about the growing tension.

"Jack," she began, "there's certain things you don't want to know the answers to. You may think you do, but you don't. You have to trust us, Jack."

He glared at her, then turned to look at Sandy. The small golden man nodded sadly, agreeing with Tooth. Jack and him stared at one another for a long moment, before Jack's face softened. He sighed, then rubbed the back of his head. "Fine," he said, his tone admitting defeat.

"I'll find out whatever it is whenever you think I'm ready." He turned to North. "So why are we here?" North gave him a smile, thanking the spirit for finally agreeing to cooperate with them. He turned to me.

"Scarlett, please tell Tooth and Sandman what you told me earlier." All eyes were on me, and immediately felt uncomfortable in my own skin. My palms began to sweat, and my mouth went dry. Still, I cleared my throat and began to speak.

"We were attacked, Jack and I."

Sandman's brows creased as he looked at North, who then gave him a curt nod. Tooth frowned.

"By who?" She asked. I shook my head.

"You mean, by what? A large wolf-rat creature. The size of a horse. It had black, matted fur and glowing red eyes. It's fangs were three inches long at least. It's paws twice as big as my face. And ugly thing, that creature was."

Tooth looked horrified. I was about to continue, but Jack beat me to it. He stepped closer to me, and I almost flinched away. His eyes were on the three guardians.

"There were more," he explained. "At least three or four. We didn't kill the one that attacked, I only froze it so we could get away. I couldn't leave her there to fight them off, that's why I brought her with me."

He turned his attention to North.

"I didn't think you'd mind once I explained things."

North nodded. "I do not mind, she can sty as long as she likes."

He was looking at me now, a large grin plastered on his face, eyes sparkling like Jack's snow. I smiled back at him, even though I felt a little uncomfortable. He looked ready to say something else, when the door behind us flew open. We all turned to look.

"This had better be good, North. You know I sleep in the winter, and the Guardian Call got all my little googies upset."

Whoever it was, they had a heavy, unfamiliar accent. Different than mine, and far different from North's. His voice was deep, and he sounded extremely agitated. I was about to ask who it was, when he came around the corner of the doorway and into the room. He was tall, at least a good six inches taller than me. But that's not including his two foot tall ears. He was a rabbit, that much was obvious. He had grayish-blue and white fur covering his lean body, and black tribal markings on his arms, head, legs, and back. He had a brown strap across his chest, which held four smaller pouches, with colorful.. eggs? He was hunched over, scratching his cheek with one of his large feet.

I raised an eye no one taught this animal some manners? I guess that was the problem, he's an animal. I crossed my arms, looking down at him. He must have noticed that we were all starring at him, because suddenly his ears perked up, and he quickly stood his full height, looking directly at me. His bright, forest green eyes met mine. His nose twitched, which made me have to fight back a giggle. He was literally a giant bunny. Wait a minuet.. This is Bunny? I stared back at him. Jack said he was rude, annoying, and conceded. He didn't look like that at all. He looked sweet, innocent, and like a child's imaginary best friend. The animal version and Indiana Jones. I neatly placed my hands behind my back. I grinned.

"Hello," I greeted, trying to sound as sweet as I could. He didn't say anything back, he just continued to stare at me. I began to feel nervous, his eyes not leaving mine. I swallowed, wanting to hide away in a hole somewhere.

"Uh.. Who is this?" He asked, looking over to North, then back to me.

"This, is Scarlett. She is Jack's friend." Bunny turned to glare at Jack.

"Ya can't just bring your friends to North's shop like that!"

Jack crossed his arms. "I had to, she was in danger."

Bunny shook his head, eyes widening. "There's an entire world out there, and you bring her here? No, she has to go. She can't be here. She doesn't belong here with us. Not even for a minute."

I blinked in surprise. So Jack had been right about Bunny. He didn't want me here, he said I didn't belong here. It reminded me of things my father had said to me. I suddenly felt a spark of anger begin to flicker inside me. I glared at him, narrowing my eyes.

"Just who the _hell_ do you think you are, rabbit?!"


	7. Hate At First Sight

Everyone turned to stare at me. I had raised my voice, used profane language, and had just insulted their friend. Even with all their eyes on me, mine never left Bunny. He stared back at me, his own eyes glowing with irritation. His brow creased, and he narrowed his eyes.

"Watch yourself, girly." He threatened in a low, menacing voice. That accent.. I'd heard it before. Even thought I had been locked in that basement, sometimes I was able to sneak out when father left at night to go drinking with his friends and I would watch TV. I had heard an accent like this on TV, I just couldn't put my finger on where.

"Or what?" I challenged, crossing my arms. When had I become so stubborn? I saw him straighten up, taking a step closer to me. Someone cleared their throat from behind me.

"I wouldn't do that.." Tooth warned softly. I scoffed, not taking my eyes off the giant fur ball.

"I may not have been around a cactus before, but I know a prick when I see one."

I would have payed a lot of money if I could have got a picture of his face in that moment. Oh, he was pissed. I could already tell I was going to get a kick out of getting under his skin. And I could also tell he wasn't going to have to put any effort into getting under mine. I couldn't help the smirk that spread across my face.

"What the matter, cat got your tongue?" I could hear Jack trying not to laugh. His muttered chuckles sounded from behind me. Bunny noticed this too, and he narrowed his green eyes and again began to step forward until he was only standing a foot away from me. I blinked up at him, almost gasping. He was a lot bigger up close, a lot more intimidating. I stood to about a little higher than his nose. He almost towered over me, and I almost began to regret challenging him. Almost.

"I don't know you, but I already can't stand you." He growled. Rabbits could growl? I narrowed my own yellow eyes and stared back, letting him know he didn't scare me.

"Well from what I've heard you don't like anyone, so I won't take it personally." At my words, I saw his eyes shift behind me, looking at Jack. Then they came back to me, still glowing with anger.

"Well you should, seeing as to how I had a reason for not liking Frostbite, but I don't need one to not like you."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh why don't you go stuff yourself, you oversized child's plaything."

I saw his jaw clench as he leaned forward, our faces now only inches apart. I immediately noticed a foreign burning feeling on the back of my neck. It wasn't the familiar heat inside myself I'd gotten used to. This heat was something.. different. It made me want to back away from him, so escape whatever was happening to me. Whatever the feeling was, I didn't like it. However, I couldn't back down. My pride wouldn't allow that. So instead of waiting for him to reply, I spun around to face North, taking a few steps forward, desperate to leave the feeling behind me, which half worked. Traces of heat remained, but it wasn't as potent as it had been before.

"These creatures are dangerous. We may not have had a full blown attack, but you could almost feel the power radiating from them. It was terrifying." I didn't particularly feel in the mood to talk about this, but it was better than arguing with Bunny. North gave me a curt nod.

"Uh, yes. We know. You see, ah.. Sandy was attacked as well." All of our eyes fell on the little golden man. He gave us a grave look, then nodded slowly, looking to the ground sadly. Jack rushed over to Sandy, leaning down and placing a hand on his shoulder. Sandy looked up to look him in the eyes.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked. Sandy gave him a grin, then a thumbs up and a nod. Jack grinned back. "Good." He stood and patted Sandy's back as he did so.

"Anyone care to explain what the bloody hell is going on?" Bunny's voice sounded from behind me, as he stepped forward and past me. North just looked down at him and shrugged.

"Is hard to explain. All we know is, we are being threatened by demons." They all gasped. I on the other hand, wasn't surprised. That thing that tried to kill reeked of pure evil. There was no goodness inside it, no light. I should have burned it alive while I still had the chance. Jack's ice couldn't have killed it, only temporarily demobilized it so we could escape. I silently thanked God they couldn't fly, or that could have turned out bad for all of us.

Jack was the first to speak. He shook his head, laughing in disbelief. "Wait wait wait, back up a second. You mean to tell me, that.. thing.. that attacked me and Scarlett, was a demon?" North gave him a look that said that this wasn't a joke. Jack blinked. "You've got to be kidding me." He mumbled to himself, but since he was only a couple feet away, I heard him.

Bunny walked past me and stood in front of North. "Demons?" He mocked. "That's not even possible, you old goat. That means someone would have to go and let the bloody things loose!"

Tooth flew forward, a look of dismay on her face. "But who would release... Oh no." Her hands flew over her mouth. Everyone around me seemed to have a dawn of realization. I raised an eyebrow. So they knew who was behind the attacks.

"Crikey.." Bunny whispered. My eyes widened with realization.

"Animal Planet!" I exclaimed. For the second time, four pairs of eyes landed on me. I felt that same uneasy feeling again. I didn't like being the center or attention, even if just for a brief moment. Sandy made a confused face, a golden question mark above his head. I cleared my throat, my hands folded together behind my back as I looked over to Bunny.

"You talked in a familiar way. I couldn't figure out what it was at first but now I remember. I watched Animal Planet one time, and I remembered seeing some guy on there, and you talk just like him." I looked away from him. I must have sounded so childish to them. They're worried about demons running around who've been released from hell, and here I am stating that a giant rabbit talks a certain way. I then began to wonder why I didn't have a filter between my brain and mouth. I shouldn't have made an outburst like that. I wanted to shrink back and hide away somewhere.

"Australian." I looked up to see that Bunny had taken a step closer to me, his arms crossed and eyes on mine. I coughed out of embarrassment.

"What?" I choked out. He rolled his emerald eyes in annoyance. I felt my embarrassment fade at his rude gesture, making me want to walk over and pop him upside the head.

"I have an Australian accent. And I'd be willing to bet the gumby you're talking about is Steve Erwin."

Steve Erwin.. It sounded right, but then again I wouldn't be able to tell if it was or wasn't. I'd only seen the crazy Australian on TV for a mere two or three minutes. I stared blankly at him, not really feeling the need to reply. And honestly, I didn't want to. I still wanted to smack him for rolling his eyes at me. I just might if he didn't watch his attitude. I could feel his eyes on me, watching me, observing. He was deciding wether he'd externally hate me, or if he'd just had a bad first impression. In all honesty, I could care less which it was. I didn't like the large rodent. He could get stuck down in some rabbit hole of his for all I cared.

I finally decided to look up and meet his hard gaze with a glare of my own. His green eyes were in narrowed slits, a crooked frown on his face. I mimicked his expression, earning me a gruff snort from him.

"So there's demons out there?" Jack asked, breaking the sudden tension. This seemed to break our glares at each other, and we bother turned to Jack, the other three guardians doing the same.

North nodded slowly."Yes."

Jack seemed to be taking in this new information. I guess until today, he hadn't known demons existed. I on the other hand had. No, I didn't picture them as physical beings, but more as the voices you hear in your head telling you to do something you know you'd regret later. Something that could hurt yourself or someone else. Some of us live our whole lives fighting those demons, some choose to give in. And some never get the choice.

"So how do we get rid of them?" I asked into the lingering silence. Everyone suddenly turned to me, each of them with a different expression. North had a look of confusion, amusement, and.. excitement? There was a glint in his eyes, one that I couldn't quite pin out. Sandy smiled at me, knowing what I was implying with my question. Jack looked as if he was trying to wrap his head around everything still, honestly. Tooth grinned wildly at me, her excitement no where near as well hidden as North's. I didn't even get the chance to look at Bunny's face for his mouth opened.

"What do you mean, 'we'? There is no 'we.'" When he said "we" the last time, he gestured him me to the rest of them. I stared at him in frustration. He was seriously standing there, implying that I didn't get to help them. Of all the nerve! He wasn't my parent, and he had no right to boss me around! I wasn't a child, and I wasn't going to follow any orders from anyone unless asked. Crossing my arms, I bit back a Nast retort. If I wanted to help, I'd at least have to try to keep my sarcastic replies under control for now.

"For your information, one of those things nearly ripped my head off. Something I'm still fuming about. And I plan to get revenge. Besides, I don't think a little extra help would hurt." It was.. nice. Well, not exactly nice, but it wasn't rude either, per-say. It was truth. I did want revenge, and the other half of the truth was I was afraid to take on one of those things by myself. They were at least twice my size. But that was just the one we saw. What if that was a small one? What if the average size of them were double that? And if so, how big and dangerous were the largest ones? I'd prefer to have back up, thank you very much.

"No," he insisted, becoming obviously irritated. "We don't need help. We're the guardians! We can handle this on our own. We don't need some kid getting in the way. Besides, you'd just get hurt, and I for one am not gonna come to your rescue if you fall down and get a scratch!" My jaw dropped. Was he calling me weak?! I didn't move my body, but that didn't stop my mouth.

"If you think I'm weak, you'll be the first to find out just how weak I'm not. Watch yourself, Furball." I growled the last part. And when I say I growled it, I mean it came out as an animalistic growl. That seemed to make him falter, in turn making me smirk. So he wasn't as macho manly as he tried to portray to everyone.

"Bunny, she has point. We will need help." North said to his furry friend. Bunny shot him a glare, throwing his arms up in defeat.

"No one ever listens to me!" He shouted. I rolled my eyes, deciding to ignore him. I turned to North.

"Back to my pervious question; how do you kill a demon?" I asked. North's brow furrowed in thought, and he sighed.

"There is only one thing that can fully destroy a demon from core."

I stared, waiting. I wasn't ready for the answer I received.

"Fire."

Fire? Could it really be that simple? I hadn't even noticed I had begun to chuckle,until everyone began to stare at me like I was mad. My eyes began to water with amusement as I jumped up, sitting on top of a desk.

"Is that it?" I asked, whipping tears away as I lost myself in a fit of laughter at they're confused and horrified faces.

"You mind telling us what's so bloody funny about this?!" Bunny snapped. I slowly got control over myself, and turned to him.

"What's so funny, Cottontail, is that you sat here saying that I'd get hurt and I was weak, when in reality I'm exactly what's needed for this job." Everyone except Jack gave me a puzzled look. The look he gave me was different. A smile lit up his face in realization at what I was saying. Bunny just scoffed at me.

"And how do you get that?" He asked. I grinned at him.

"Simple."

With that, I pulled my hand out and flattened my palm. Not a forced flatted, but a relaxed, natural flatten. My fingers still curved in slightly as I took in a breath, and a flame lit above my palm. A brilliant flame, really. Beautiful colors of red, orange, and yellow flowing together like a river of fire. I was proud of this flame, how could I not be? It was practically my entire essence. I sat there like that for a moment, before closing my fist and letting the flames quickly die out. I turned to look at all them, and felt my blood run cold.

North had an immediate look of confusion, and worry. Tooth looks concerned, and Sandy looked puzzled. Why were they so confused? Jack is a ice spirit, is it really that strange to see a human with fire powers? Slowly, the three confused guardians gazed drifted over to Bunny. I turned to look at him, too. I was not prepared for what I saw.

He had a look of pure horror and disgust, like he'd just seen someone retch up their own guts. His muscles were tensed, as if ready to attack. His face was twisted with emotion. His eyes were filled with confusion, and.. Pain? I blinked, feeling suddenly insecure about my powers that I was so proud of not only ten seconds before.

"Get out." It was no more than a rough whisper, but I heard it clearly. He was breathing heavily, as if trying to control himself. North took a step forward, ready to place a comforting hand of Bunny's shoulder.

"Bunny, listen to me.."

Then it happened, Bunny snapped.

He whipped away from North's reach, earning the old man a glare. "No!" He bellowed. "You listen to me, North! She has to leave, now! I know it, you know it, and so do Sandy and Tooth! She shouldn't have those powers, she doesn't deserve them!" He was visibly shaken. He was a walking disaster of emotion at the moment. His eyes began to cloud over, and I felt a lump in my throat. Then he turned to face me, and I froze. If looks could kill, I'd have been six feet under faster than you could blink.

Before anyone could say anything else, I felt a presence in front of my, realizing that Jack had stepped between us. (Closer to me, I might add.)

"What's you're problem?!" Jack shouted. Bunny sent daggers at him through the look he gave him.

"Stay out of this, Frostbite. You don't understand anything." His tone held a warning, as if telling Jack to step down before things got ugly. Jack held his ground, though. And I couldn't help the swelling feeling in my chest as he did so.

"There's no reason for you to treat her like that! She hasn't done anything to you!" He didn't want to fight, I could tell it in his voice. He was searching for understanding, he didn't want to argue with his friend. Jack warned me that verbal fights with Bunny could be worse than deadly. I guess I should have listened.

"Stat out of this!" Bunny yelled, louder this time. You could feel the crackling tension in the room. I flinched, realizing that this sudden uproar had been because of me. I jumped down from the desk, pushing past Jack and running from the room. I hadn't realized I was trying to escape until my feet were already moving and out the door. I saw the opening above the large globe. It would be quicker than running to the front door. I pictured all the times I had levitated, and let out a quick breath as I shot into the air without thinking.

I didn't realize I was full blown flying until I was out of view of the workshop, fling over the freezing mountains of the North Pole, desperate to be anywhere but here. Desperate to escape reality.

** A/N: Okay so I'm not sure how I'm feeling about this story. I already have the entire thing planned out, but I haven't gotten much feed back for it. I'd love some reviews that way I know I'm not writing to an empty audience.. And yes, the first few chapters may seem fast paced, but I'm trying to get to the good stuff cx I have so much to write, I don't want it to be 100 chapters long!**


	8. Familiar Voices

_~If you find your family don't you cry_  
_In this land of make believe, dead and dry_  
_You're so cold but you feel alive_  
_Lay your hand on me one last time_  
_Show me how it ends, it's all right_  
_Show me how defenseless you really are_  
_Satisfied and empty inside~_  
-So Cold: Breaking Benjamin

Jack's P.O.V:

I watched her run off. She wasn't crying, but I could tell she was upset. I couldn't tell about what exactly, but I knew it had to do with the way this six foot tall ball of fur standing in front of me was acting. I whipped around, glaring at him.

"Now look what you did!" I exclaimed, gesturing to the door Scarlett had just run out of. Manny only knows where she stormed off too. We'd be lucky if she was still in the building somewhere. Maybe we would be as lucky, and she was just off hiding somewhere. Part of me hoped for as much, but the other part knew better than to have that much wishful thinking.

"Eh? Good riddance." Bunny mumbled, still shaking slightly. Tooth hovered in the air next to him, a gentle hand placed on his shoulder to my right. She was looking down at him, magenta eyes full of concern and pain for the Pooka. Bunny stared at the doorway, eyes hard and swirling with untold emotion. His fists were clenched together, and he was just beginning to try to ease his heavy breathes, although it wasn't working out too well for him.

"How can you be so _selfish_!?" I yelled.

This was going to be a worse fight than the one we'd had when I had been chosen as a Guardian six years ago, I could already tell. Although he and I had mended our rivalry, we still looked at things in different ways. For instance, right now all he cared about was himself. Like always. He didn't care about the fact that the things he was saying had hurt her feelings, he only cared about whatever it was that had suddenly started to bother him.

His body shifted, turning to face me. Tooth's eyes widened as she realized what was happening, and she quickly fluttered off and hid behind North. I felt a pain in my chest for her, I hated seeing her get scared like that. She was easily startled, which didn't surprise me since half of her was a humming bird, and the other half a human girl.

Bunny pointed one of his stubby fingers at me.

"What'd I tell you about staying out of this, Frostbite?"

There was a threatening tone in his voice, as if challenging me to stand up to him. Of course, me being me, accepted that challenge.

"Look I don't know what your problem is, but you hurt her feelings!" I didn't want to fight with him, but if that's what it took to get my point across, so be it. We were just going to have to fight then.

"You don't understand!" He shouted at me. The way he was talking to me reminded me of that Easter that kids stopped believing in him. The thought of it gave me a sour feeling in my stomach. I frowned.

"Well maybe if you told me why you're acting like a child throwing a tantrum, I would!" He could be hard headed, but so could I. And I wasn't leaving him alone until I got some answers from him. In all honesty, it wasn't just because he hurt her feelings that I was questioning him like this. Believe it or not, I care for the grumpy kangaroo in some weird way. I hate to see him upset like this, and I want to know what's making him act this way.

"You want to talk about acting like a child? Look at yourself, mate! You think that just because you were chosen to be a guardian means you're _important_? We only needed you for that bloody fight with Pitch! We could do just fine without you now!"

I stared at him, not believing he had just said that to me. I had to clam the pain in my chest. His words hurt, and part of me knew what he was saying was true. I narrowed my eyes, choosing not to ignore his jibe.

"That may be true, but all you care about is yourself and _stupid_ Easter! You don't even care that the way you're acting hurt her! You walked in and immediately decided to hate her, and tell her to leave. Why? Just because you _think_ you can! If you took the time to get to know her, you'd realize she's a nice girl!"

Bunny glared at me. "You don't even _know_ her, mate! None of us do!"

I narrowed my eyes. "So that makes it okay for you to make an ass of yourself?"

He looked like he was ready to attack me. He narrowed his green eyes at me, and my muscles tensed, ready to dodge a hit if I had to. Just as I thought he was about to throw a punch, his entire demeanor changed. His eyes softened, the anger fading away almost instantly. It caught me off guard, and I stared at him as he sighed softly. For a second, I thought he was going to tell me what was going on, but then he turned and walked out of the room, not bother to shut the door behind him or look back, his ears drooping in what seemed like sadness.

Once I was sure he was gone, I turned to North. "Tell me what's going on, now."

North looked to Sandy and Tooth. Sandy gave him a curt nod of approval. Tooth let out a breath.

"He deserves to know," she said softly. North nodded sadly, then turned to me.

"I will tell you, but.. You cannot tell Scarlett under any circumstance, understood?"

I could have sworn I saw tears in those old eyes of his as he whispered, "Scarlett.. she is not first fire spirit."

Scarlett's P.O.V:

The moment I shot into the air and didn't fall, I almost screamed in surprise. I had just planned on levitating to the top and out through the hole in the roof, and then climbing down somehow. Now here I was, soaring through the below freezing air. I held my breath, afraid that at any second I would start plummeting to the ground. It never happened.

I looked around for anything that could pass as temporary shelter. I needed sleep. I had only gotten about two hours of sleep last night. I could feel the exhaustion begin to overwhelm me as I struggled to keep my eyes open to look for somewhere to crash for an hour or so.

I had almost given up hope when I saw a small opening to a cave on the edge of an elevated cliff. I silently prayed that there wouldn't already be an animal sleeping there as I soared down. I landed not so graciously, but I managed to do it on two feet so I'd give myself a six out of ten for not breaking something or landing on a sensitive body part.

I hesitated before taking a step inside. The cave, if you could even call it that, wasn't very big at all. The back wall only reached about eight feet inside. That may sound like a lot, but in reality it wasn't. It was about five feet wide. It wasn't big, but it would do for now. I looked to to the left of the caves mouth and saw an old, dead tree trunk.

I reached over, yanking pieces of wood and shreds of bark from the tree. This would be enough firewood to last me until the morning. Once I had my arms full of wood, I climbed inside. I could still hear the wind howling from outside, but I couldn't feel it anymore. I breathed a sigh of relief, my skin slowly returning the feeling I hadn't been aware had left to begin with.

I threw the wood down onto the ground, then slowly began to place it into a neat pile. Once I was satisfied with the shape, I through a small fire ball into the center of the pile, it almost immediately beginning to ignite. I sighed as the warmth began to swim around me. I couldn't fight the exhaustion anymore. I layed on my side, placing my arms under my head as I quickly drifted off to sleep.

I was surrounded by darkness. I blinked, yet all I saw was black. I felt panic begin to rise in my chest, thinking I was back inside that damned basement again. Had it all been a dream? Was I not really free from that horrible man who called himself my father? I began to run in the darkness, part out of fear, the other out of instinct.

I hadn't been running long when I heard it. A chuckle. I froze in place instantly, every hair on the back of my neck beginning to rise. I looked around and held my breath, but still couldn't see anything.

"H-hello?" I croaked. I sounded sick, like I was on the verge of dying. Fear does that to people.

I jumped at the unexpected reply.

"None of it is what it really seems, you know." It was a whisper, but coming from all directions. The voice was like velvet, yet completely unnerving. I began to spin around, desperate for any sign of light.

"Who are you?" I cried out.  
There was a pause before the voice answered.

"Your worst nightmare."

My eyes widened. No.. I thought I had escaped these terrible dreams. I hadn't had one since I'd gained my powers and escaped my father. I backed up slowly, desperate to wake up, to leave, anything. I knew this voice. It haunted my dreams so much all those months ago, that it sometimes even haunted me when I was awake.

"I'm not afraid of you," I lied.

I waited, but he didn't say anything back. I felt myself slowly start to calm down. Maybe, just maybe it was over..

"Yes you are," he whispered in my ear as my heart jumped in my chest.

I went to scream, but before a sound could escape, something wet and slimy snaked around my neck and made me freeze in complete horror. When the tip of it rubbed up my neck and cheek, I realized it was a tongue.  
I began to hyperventilate. I was helpless, and too afraid to fight back. I had taught myself to wake up from nightmares like this, but it wasn't working this time. I was trapped inside my own nightmare, and there was no escape in sight.

Just as that thought crossed my mind, I jerked awake. But even when my eyes opened, I panicked. It was dark, and the fire had gone out. I scurried over to it, throwing another ball of fire in there, this one a lot bigger than I had intended it to be in my terrified state. I began to hack and cough as ash flew into my face. I tried swatting it away, which only made it worse.

"This might actually be cute if you weren't choking half to death," a cool voice said from behind me.

**A/N: Okay so for the first time in history I uploaded two chapters in one day. That's a new one for me. I'm sick with an infection in my lungs so I can't leave the house, and it's spring break which sucks. **

**I want 5 reviews before I upload the next chapter! Say anything! You can tell me what you like and don't like, what you think will happen in the story, who you think will be involved in the love triangle?**  
**Also, why do you think Bunny is acting so.. crazy? And what did the voice (you know who it is), mean when he said it's not all as it seems? Let me know!**


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